Man asleep at wheel of running car arrested on multiple drug charges
A check on a suspicious vehicle parked in a woman’s driveway with the engine running Saturday morning resulted in the arrest of the driver, who was asleep, after numerous drugs were allegedly found in his possession.
Darius Kyri Walker, 39, who lists an Oakwood Street address, was taken into custody shortly after 8 a.m. and charged with possession of meth with purpose to deliver, punishable by up to 30 years in prison, possession of drug paraphernalia and unauthorized use of another person’s property to facilitate a crime, each punishable by up to 20 years in prison, possession of cocaine with purpose to deliver, punishable by up to 10 years, and possession of pills, hydrocodone and oxycodone, with purpose to deliver, punishable by 10 to 20 years, and possession of drug paraphernalia, punishable by up to six years.
Walker was also arrested on misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana with purpose to deliver, public intoxication and criminal trespass. He was being held on bonds totaling $31,500 and was set to appear Monday in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Hot Springs police responded to a residence in the 700 block of Silver Street around 8 a.m. Saturday to check on a suspicious vehicle in the driveway. The homeowner said she didn’t know who it belonged to, or who was in it.
The vehicle, a beige Toyota Avalon, was in reverse gear and the driver, later identified as Walker, had his foot on the brake and appeared to be sleeping. After several minutes and multiple attempts to wake him, during which he would wake up and then fall back asleep, officers finally roused him enough to get him to open the door.
Officers Jaime Ugartechea and Chris Chapin noted there were multiple plastic baggies at Walker’s feet. They tried multiple times to get Walker to put the car in park and shut off the engine. He finally shut it off and got out but it was still in reverse, so Ugartechea had to jump in and put it into park to keep it from rolling back and potentially damaging property.
After Walker got out, officers noted a black bag containing multiple baggies in the floorboard that was confiscated. Officers also reportedly found $854 in Walker’s waistband. They noted Walker appeared intoxicated and the Avalon was found to belong to someone else.
The drugs allegedly located in the bag included 26.8 grams of meth, five hydrocodone pills, one oxycodone pill, 2.5 grams of marijuana, .08 gram of cocaine, a syringe with 26 units of meth, and several empty baggies.
The drugs and vehicle were seized by agents with the 18th Judicial District East Drug Task Force who will assist with the investigation.